[177] In this auspicious eon (bhaddakappa), a kinsman of Brahmā, of great fame,
Kassapa by name, the best of speakers, arose.
Then I, having gone forth in the dispensation (sāsana) of that Buddha,
was restrained in the Pātimokkha and in the five faculties (indriya).
Knowing moderation, [keeping to] a low seat, and devoted to wakefulness as well,
dwelling [thus] devoted to exertion, I — with a corrupted mind —
then once reviled a bhikkhunī whose taints (āsava) were gone, [crying] "Courtesan!"
By that very evil deed (pāpakamma) I was roasted in hell (niraya).
[Variants: (1) Yu.: "jāgariyesu ca"; (2) Po.: "dhuttayogāhaṃ".]
By the remainder of that same kamma I was born into a family of courtesans,
for the most part in subjection to others; and in my final birth
I was born into the family of a wealthy merchant (seṭṭhi) of Kāsi; by the fruit of the holy life (brahmacariya)
I was, like a celestial nymph (accharā) among the gods, endowed with perfection of form.
Having seen me [so] fair to behold, in Giribbaja, supreme among cities,
they installed me in the courtesan's estate — through the fruit of my reviling.
Having heard the true Dhamma (saddhamma) spoken by the supreme Buddha,
endowed [as I was] with impressions from the past (pubbavāsanā), I went forth into homelessness.
Then, while going to the presence of the Conqueror (Jina) for the sake of full ordination (upasampadā),
having seen scoundrels stationed upon the road, I obtained ordination by messenger (dūtopasampadā).
All kamma has been utterly exhausted — merit and evil alike;
I have crossed over all saṃsāra, and the courtesan's estate has been spent.
I have mastery of the psychic powers (iddhi) and of the divine ear element (dibbasotadhātu);
I have mastery of the knowledge that penetrates the minds of others (cetopariyañāṇa), O great sage.
I know my former abodes (pubbenivāsa); the divine eye (dibbacakkhu) has been purified;
all my taints are utterly destroyed; now there is no renewed existence (punabbhava).
In meaning (attha), in dhamma, in language (nirutti), and likewise in ready exposition (paṭibhāna),
my knowledge (ñāṇa) has arisen in your presence, O great hero.
My defilements (kilesa) have been burned away; all existences (bhava) have been extirpated;
like a she-elephant that has burst her bonds, I dwell without taints.
[Variants: (1) M.: "tena kammāvasesena"; (2) Yu.: "…parādhitā"; (3) M.: "brahmacārībalenahaṃ"; (4) Yu.: "disvātidassanīyaṃ"; (5) M.: "…balena me"; (6) M., Yu.: "buddhaseṭṭhena desitaṃ"; (7) Yu.: "tadāpasampadatthāya"; (8) Yu.: "gacchantaṃ"; (9) M.: "sutvā".]
Welcome indeed was my coming into the presence of the supreme Buddha:
the three true knowledges (vijjā) have been attained; the Buddha's teaching has been fulfilled.
The four analytic insights (paṭisambhidā), and also these eight liberations (vimokkha),
and the six superknowledges (chaḷabhiññā) have been realized; the Buddha's teaching has been fulfilled.
Thus indeed the bhikkhunī Aḍḍhakāsikā spoke these verses.
The Apadāna of the Therī Aḍḍhakāsī is concluded.
The Eighth: The Apadāna of the Therī Puṇṇikā (38)
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.